The Mistake
by Tigress of the Moon
Summary: Ax finds Jessica, a girl who was a controller only hours before, wandering around the woods. The animorphs have to decide whether to kill Jessica to get rid of any suspision, or help her rescue Cossette, from the evil clutches of the Yeerks. *CH 14 UP!!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclamier: I don't own Animorphs *sighs* K.A. Applegate does. But that doesn't mean I can't right this! :) He he he. But anyway...Enjoy the fanfic. This is the first fanfic I've ever written and I hope you enjoy it. Ja ne!**  
  
The Mistake  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
My name is Jessica. I can't tell you my last name, or even garuntee that my first name is my true name. Nor can I tell you where I live, because they'll get me, the Yeerks. Right now they think that we're just a group of Andalite bandits, but they will find us, and when they do, then there will be no hope in fighting this unknown war.  
  
I didn't ask to be in this war, but when I was recruited not knowing what I was getting into, I had no other choice. In eighth grade I was miserable, with almost no friends and a family that didn't care. When the Sharing was introduced to me, like a kind of boy scouts, but for both boys and girls, I leaped at the opportunity to make new friends. I started getting really involved, and even recruited new people. Until I stumbled upon their horrible secret.  
  
See the Yeerks aren't like us, they're not human, in fact they're no where near human. They're a parasitic slug species from a far away plant and galaxy that decided they needed to take over Earth. And that's not the worst part. They take over by literally taking over you. You know all those nicks and crannies in your brain, well that's what the Yeerk uses to take you over. They crawl into your head through your ear canal and into your brain. They stretch themselves over your brain, so you can't control you body. They take control. You can no longer speak, walk, move, nothing. You can hear yourself talk and see what's going on, but you're not doing that talking, and your eyes seem to be moving on their own, almost. You just sit back and watch your life happen before your own eyes, or what used to be yours. You are now a Controller, a human-controller to be exact.  
  
But you're not alone. The Yeerk is in there with you, going through your thoughts and memories, pulling out whatever part of the past it wants to look at. I know, I was there. They torture you with all your mistakes, they try to destroy your hopes and dreams to make you their little puppet. They then own you, you are no longer yourself.  
  
The reason I got to experience this horrible incident was a huge mistake. I had brought my sister Cossette in to the meeting, even though she didn't really feel like going. I convinced her to go, that it would be fun. I was wrong, really wrong. The group I was with decided they wanted to make Cossette a full member, and when she was done, I was next. I thought this was great, and was happy for Cossette that after just one day she would get to be a full member. I waited outside the room where only the full members were allowed to go. They had forgotten to lock the door I guess, and I tripped over something and fell into the room. Right as they were inserting that horrible slug into her ear. I heard her scream, and I will never forget it. Though I screamed too, and I ran and ran, but they caught me, and did to me what they did to my beloved sister. I was now a controller, with one of them in my head.  
  
I screamed when it happened, or at least I thought I did. Unfortunately, only the Yeerk in my head and I heard that scream. I remained with him, or should I say Insis 562, for 1 day. He didn't know how strong I was, but he thought he knew. I made myself out to be weak, but when I had reserved enough strength, I attacked. I ran, I ran out into the forest, right next to my friend Cassie's house. I ran in so deep I got lost, and apparently, so did the Yeerk, because he had no idea where we were either.  
  
Yeerks need Kadrona rays, that's what they feed on in their home planet. They need them every three days or they die, I was lost in the woods for four. Needless to say, Insis 562 no longer exists and will be torturing no one else, as he tortured me.  
  
Eventually I was found, and you won't believe by who. By an Andalite, by Aximili Esgarrouth Isthil to be exact. He was the one who found me, he was the one who saved my life... 


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclamier: I don't own Animorphs *sighs* K.A. Applegate does. But that doesn't mean I can't right this! :) He he he. But anyway...Enjoy the fanfic. This is the first fanfic I've ever written and I hope you enjoy it. Ja ne!**  
  
Chapter 2:  
  
"Aaaahhhh!" I screamed the first time I saw him, a mix between a deer, a scorpion, and a human, not to mention he was blue and tan. Oh man, was he weird looking. He had the body and legs of a deer, the torso of a human, but when it came to his tail, like that of a scorpion with a huge scythe blade, and his head, with two extra stalk-like eyes, three slits for a nose, and no mouth, it was just too much. I was just scared to death, really, I fainted.  
  
When I woke up all I saw was his face bending over me, and only heard his voice, although it sounded like it was in my head.  
  
Are you okay? he said.  
  
"W-who..w-what..h-huh?"I mumbled. "What are you?" I asked in a scared but curious tone.  
  
I am Aximili Esgarrouth Isthil, an Andalite.  
  
"Aximili Esgar...what?"  
  
My friends just call me Ax.  
  
"Oh, okay. Well um.., Ax..uh, you're not going to hurt me or eat me or anything are you?" He smiled, I could tell, but it was with his eyes, weird.  
  
He laughed, No, I'm here to help you, or so I hope.  
  
"Those slugs, they didn't send you here did they?"  
  
Yeerks, he said with a total disgust and hatred.  
  
"What?"  
  
Yeerks, those are the slugs you are talking about. You became a controller didn't you.  
  
"If a controller is when they put one of those, what did you call them... Yeerks in your head, then yes. Uhh, man that was just..."  
  
Do they know you are here?  
  
"No, I've been out here for days and no one has found me. The Yeerk kind of...um, well it died. I've been out here for about four days. It didn't have any food so it..."  
  
I know, Ax answered. But they will be looking for you  
  
"Yeah huh, I never thought of that."  
  
Well, now you know. But what to do with you now, I am unsure. I must take you to Prince Jake."  
  
"Whoa, who?!?" I replied."Someone that looks like you?"I asked, bewildered and scared.  
  
No, Ax said calmly. Someone of your species.  
  
This hit me kind-of hard. You see I had this huge crush on this Jake that went to my school.  
  
"Let me guess, he's friends with Cassie right?"  
  
How did you know?  
  
Now it was his turn to be bewildered. "Well I go to school with him..." I said, blushing.  
  
You have an infatuation with him don't you?  
  
"A what? You're saying I like him?"  
  
If you put it that way, yes.  
  
"Well, I guess you could say that,...there's no use lying...Yes, I like Jake. But promise you won't tell him okay?" I asked him. "I'll never live it down if you do," I mumbled to myself.  
  
I promise, said Ax. But what was the last thing you said? Something about if I tell him?  
  
"Oh nothing..." I said 


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclamier: I don't own Animorphs *sighs* K.A. Applegate does. But that doesn't mean I can't right this! :) He he he. But anyway...Enjoy the fanfic. This is the first fanfic I've ever written and I hope you enjoy it. Ja ne!**  
  
Chapter 3:  
  
We were on our way to Jake's house, by way of the forest that is, until I realized something. "Wait a second, how are we going to get to his house? People will kind-of suspect something if they a creature like you walking down the street."  
  
Well, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but my species, and some of yours, have a special power. The power to morph.  
  
"Excuse me?" I asked amazed and shocked. "What do you mean by 'morph'?"  
  
We can change into animals by absorbing their DNA. In my case, I can morph a human.  
  
"Yeah right," I said. But as I did I noticed some really wild changes. His two front legs disappeared and his back legs began to turn human. I had to catch him as he did this because he almost fell onto his face. His blue and tan fur melted into human skin and his stalk eyes kind of got absorbed into his head, to be replaced by brown curly hair. He then grew a mouth and a human nose. When his transformation was almost complete, his tail sucked up into his body and he stood on two legs, a totally convincing human being.  
  
"Okay...that was just a little creepy," I said, just a little shaky.  
  
"Yes, morphing can sometimes be a little uncomfortable to watch." Ax replied.  
  
It was then that I realized he was wearing clothes. Not much, just a pair of bike shorts and a really tight tank top, but clothing still. "You can morph clothing?" I asked, dumbfounded.  
  
"Yes, it seems that your species requires that you wear clothes. But I can only morph clothing that is tight against the skin."  
  
"Yeah, I noticed," and I really did, because he was actually really cute in human morph. Which was kind of scary at first, but I go over it.  
  
"You need to wear more than just bike shorts and a tank top though."  
  
"I know," he said. "That is why I have these."  
  
He went over to a tree and unburied a plastic bag that had a pair of jeans and a short sleeved shirt in it. I turned around as he put them on, I guess because I kind of was embarrassed looking at him. I don't know why, he didn't seem to mind.  
  
After he was dressed we headed toward the edge of the woods and found a trail. We followed the trail for about twenty minutes, which led us up to the back yard of Jake's house. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclamier: I don't own Animorphs *sighs* K.A. Applegate does. But that doesn't mean I can't right this! :) He he he. But anyway...Enjoy the fanfic. This is the first fanfic I've ever written and I hope you enjoy it. Ja ne!**  
  
Chapter 4:  
  
We went around to the front of his house and Ax rang the door bell. Jake answered.  
  
"Hi...Ax? What are you doing here?.." Jake said, but he trailed off as he saw me. "Um...Hi, Jessica," he said.  
  
"Hi, Jake," I replied.  
  
"We have a tiny situation here..." Ax began.  
  
"Wait right here," Jake said. A few minutes later, he came back out. "I told my mom that I was going over to your house, Ax, that we were going to do a book report together. She seemed kind-of suspicious, but she bought it. I have to be back home in an hour. Now, why are you with Jessica?"  
  
"Let's go into the woods first, where people cannot spy on us or hear us."  
  
"Good idea Ax," said Jake.  
  
Once we entered the woods, Ax explained his story on how he found me and I added in all the gory details that happened up until Ax found me, even about my sister.  
  
"This is not good," Jake said, burying his face in his hands.  
  
"Tell me something I don't know," I replied.  
  
"How are we going to undo this, any suggestions?" Jake asked.  
  
"Well...," Ax said.  
  
"What, do you know something Ax?" Jake asked.  
  
"Well, she could fake her own death."  
  
"I don't like the sound of this..." I added.  
  
"And how do you purpose that, Ax?"  
  
"Do you remember our good friends the androids?"  
  
"Oh, I see where this is going. We could get one of them to show a holographic image of Jessica, dead."  
  
"Precisely."  
  
"Whoa, hold on! Wait a second here! Who or what are androids?"  
  
"They would be considered like a robot to you, only they're highly intelligent and from a distant planet. Some of them are helping us with the war against the Yeerks," said Ax  
  
"So they're our friends right?" I asked.  
  
"Precisely," said Ax.  
  
"Exactly," said Jake.  
  
"Okay, so let me get this straight. You guys are going to have some android, or what ever, fake my death, right? Well, then what happens to the living me?"  
  
"Good question," said Jake. "Can you hold on for a moment?"  
  
"Why not..."  
  
"Okay. Ax, come here. I think I have an idea."  
  
And then they went and had a conversation, something about 'Animorph,' 'blue box,' and 'the forest...home.'  
  
"Okay, we have come to a conclusion," said Jake."You are going to become an Animorph."  
  
"A what?!?"I asked, scared and shocked.  
  
"An Animorph," Ax replied. "Someone who can change their body to that of an animal."  
  
"You cannot be serious."  
  
"You witnessed Ax's morph didn't you?"  
  
"Well, yeah...but.."  
  
"But no, you are going to be an Animorph, your life will now be like ours."  
  
"Yes, and you will be living with me in the forest," said Ax.  
  
"You have got to be joking, you want me to like in the forest? How?"  
  
"Ax will show you how. Besides, you can morph get animal morphs and look for your food." Then he saw the look of total disgust on my face. "Or I can bring you food, or any of the other Animorphs."  
  
"You mean, there's more of you?"  
  
"Yes, there is me, Cassie, Rachel, Tobis, and Marco."  
  
"Whoa, okay, wait a minute here! Cassie is an Animorph?!?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Man, this just keeps getting weirder."  
  
"You think this is weird, wait a couple of days," said Jake.  
  
"What do you mean, Jake?"  
  
"Oh, you'll see," Jake said, with a smile. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclamier: I don't own Animorphs *sighs* K.A. Applegate does. But that doesn't mean I can't right this! :) He he he. But anyway...Enjoy the fanfic. This is the first fanfic I've ever written and I hope you enjoy it. Ja ne!**  
  
Chapter 5:  
  
Later that day, we all met up in Cassie's barn, which doubles as a wildlife rehabilitation center. Sure, I had been in there before, helping Cassie bandage a raccoon's leg that had gotten caught in a trap, or giving a pill to a really vicious porcupine, but I had never been in there for a meeting of the Animorphs.  
  
Before I entered, I waited for Ax to complete his human morph, and then we walked into Cassie's barn together. When Cassie looked up from feeding a wounded wolf and saw me sitting down on a bale of hay between Ax and Jake, you could tell she was a little surprised to see me.  
  
"Jessica, what in the world are you doing here?" she asked, and then she looked at Jake.  
  
"Um...well guys, we have a bit of a situation," said Jake.  
  
"Oh, this cannot be good," added Marco, who must have entered with Rachel when I wasn't paying any attention.  
  
"Jessica was a Controller and she got enough strength to run into the woods, and cause the Yeerks in her head to become lost. The Yeerk died and now the Yeerks are probably looking for her as we speak."  
  
"So what are we supposed to do?" said Marco. "There's no way the Yeerks will give up on finding her, unless they find her-"  
  
"Dead," said Jake. "She needs to fake her own death."  
  
"And how are we going to this oh mighty and fearless leader?"  
  
"I'm sure our friends the androids wouldn't mind lending us a hand, and with a little help from us, together we could probably-"  
  
"You've got to be kidding. We're going to risk all of our lives once again just to save Ax's new girlfriend?"  
  
"Hey, watch it Marco! Unless you want to take my place at being the dead one here!"  
  
"Ooh, I'm so scared!"  
  
"Guys, just stop it. Marco, give Jessica a break, we all know it isn't the easiest thing in the world to be infested." Rachel said, breaking up my fight. I saw them all shudder, just at the mention of being infested. I almost started crying, realizing that my sister was still under their control, and I was lucky and was now free. I think Jake realized this, so he moved the conversation onward.  
  
"Anyway, Marco, Jessica, we need to-"  
  
Hi, guys sorry I'm late, but I thought I saw-Jessica?  
  
"Hey, wasn't that-"  
  
"Yes, that's Tobis," said Rachel.  
  
"But where is he?"  
  
"Well, um, Jessica, you see, if you stay in morph for more than two hours, you're stuck in that morph forever," said Jake.  
  
"What?" But as I said that, I saw this magnificent red tailed hawk fly down form the rafters of the barn and land a few feet away from me on a bale of hay next to Rachel.  
  
"Whoa, is that-"  
  
Hi, Jessica.  
  
"Hi Tobis, I was wondering why I hadn't seen you around school any more."  
  
Yeah, well this is what happens when you stay in morph for too long.  
  
"Wow."  
  
"Guys, back to business here?"  
  
Oh, well, I was just going to say I saw someone wandering through the woods, but I lost them. I guess that was you then Jess.  
  
"Yeah, I'm basically dead right now, or soon to be."  
  
What do you mean?  
  
"Tobis, Jessica was infested. Her Yeerk died because they were lost in the woods for four days, and now the Yeerks are looking for her. Which brings me back to what I was going to say before. I think it would be a good idea if we made Jessica an Animorph, that way, she could live in the woods with Ax, since everyone else will think she is dead."  
  
"Let's do it!" said Rachel.  
  
"Well, if Xena's going to do it, and I probably don't have any other choice (he said looking at Jake), sure why not! Just another near death experience to add to my all ready long list," said Marco.  
  
"Oh, shut up," mumbled Rachel.  
  
"Okay, so everyone agrees that we make Jessica an official Animorph and perform the mission that involves faking her death, right?"said Jake.  
  
"Definitely," said Rachel  
  
"Absolutely,"said Tobias  
  
"Of course," said Cassie, looking at me and smiling.  
  
"Precisely," said Ax, also sending me a smile.  
  
"Sure, why not?" said Marco.  
  
"Okay, now that we know we are going to do this, we need to contact the Chee," added Jake  
  
"The who? You mean the androids?"  
  
"Precisely," said Ax."They are an ancient and peacefully race that are working with us to defeat the Yeerks."  
  
"Oh, okay. So how do we contact them?"  
  
"What do you mean, haven't you ever heard of a phone? Infact, I think they live a couple houses down from you,"said Marco, with a smile, laughing.  
  
"What are you taking about?"  
  
"Oh, you'll see," Jake and Marco said, smiling at one another.  
  
"But meanwhile, we have to make you like us. I brought this just in case," Jake said pulling a blue cube out of his pocket, no more than four inches in height and length.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"This is the morphing cube. The cube that will give you the power to morph. It's how all of us received our powers, even Ax."  
  
"Wow, so what do I have to do?"  
  
"Just place your hand against it, like this," and he pressed his hand, palm down on a bale of hay next to him.  
  
"This isn't going to hurt or anything?" I said, reaching toward the blue box Jake was holding.  
  
"No, not at all. It may feel weird, but trust me, you'll be fine."  
  
And, since I did trust him, I reached out and placed my hand on the side of the cube, palm down, like Jake had showed me. I placed my hand right next to his, but on a different side of the cube. When my hand was completely on it, Jake sent me a smile, and a tingling sensation shot throughout my body from my hand, and then it went right back into the cube.  
  
"Okay, you can let go now," Jake said. But somehow, I already knew.  
  
"So, can I see how this works?"  
  
"Sure," said Jake. "All you have to do is touch any animal that you want to morph. Just think about them as you touch them and you will absorb their DNA, it will become a part of you forever... And when you are touching them, they will go into a trance. The trance will last for about 10 seconds after you're done absorbing their DNA."  
  
"Just enough time to run before you get eaten," added Marco.  
  
"But watch out when you morph!" warned Cassie. "When you morph the animal, it's instincts come with it."  
  
"Wow," was the only remark I could think of. "This is so cool."  
  
"Not when it's our only weapon fighting the Yeerks. So, what are we now? The fantastic five and bird boy?" said Marco.  
  
We all laughed. I was eager to try out my new ability. I looked around at the cages along the walls of Cassie's barn and spotted a Lynx next to the wolf I had seen Cassie working with earlier. When everyone else was still laughing, I opened the cage, not looking at its eyes so it wouldn't be frightened, and reached out and placed my hand on the top of its head. I concentrated on the Lynx and thought about absorbing its DNA. Within several seconds, I was done, and had closed the cage door while the Lynx was still in the trance. It was kind-of funny because it was purring through out the whole thing.  
  
When I looked behind me, I noticed that all of them were looking at me, smiling, especially Cassie, because she knew I loved cats.  
  
"Well, what are we waiting for? I want to try out my first morph. It sounds so cool."  
  
So we headed into the woods, one red tailed hawk (an Animorph), one Andalite in human morph, and now, five, regular Animorphs, all fighting against the Yeerks. I started to wonder just how much hope our world, Earth, actually had. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclamier: I don't own Animorphs *sighs* K.A. Applegate does. But that doesn't mean I can't right this! :) He he he. But anyway...Enjoy the fanfic. This is the first fanfic I've ever written and I hope you enjoy it. Ja ne!**  
  
Chapter 6:  
  
You will absolutely love cat morph Jess, Tobias said as we were walking through the woods. He was flying overhead of course.  
  
"Yeah, it's like you're liquid steel," Jake added. "The tiger is my favorite morph, it's just an awesome feeling, all most too hard to explain."  
  
Definitely. I've only morphed my pet cat so far, but it's an incredible feeling. It's like you're king of the world, invincible. Its just...wow, you know? Well, you will.  
  
We had gotten deep enough into the woods at this point that Ax started to morph back into his original body, his Andalite body. He seemed to like it more being an Andalite, mentioning once before to me that two legs to walk on was much too unsteady, he preferred his four.  
  
When we had been walking for about twenty or so minutes, we came to a patch of forest near a small meadow. We stopped, and everyone started to sit down, so I began my first morph.  
  
I started to concentrate on the Lynx and pictured it in my head, and that's when the changes started to occur. The first thing that happened was the fur, brown fur rippled down my arms and my back and covered my entire body. I felt that I had some control over what happened next, so I thought about how cool the cat's eyes would be, and then my eyes changed. I went blind for a second, and then the world reappeared. My eyes were adjusted to see movement instead of detail now, so everything was a little fuzzy.  
  
And that's when my tail came, it sprouted right out of my spine, and at this point, I was still pretty much human. Then, my hands and feet changed into paws. My fingers shrunk and long black razor sharp claws replaced my dull human nails.  
  
My teeth became that of a cat's and my fangs grew. My mouth started to itch as my teeth dissolved and were replaced by the Lynx's. At the same time, my knees and elbows switched direction as my legs shrunk, so I started to fall, but I was caught by Ax, who carefully lowered me down and backed away. My insides started to twist and turn, some new organs appeared and others left completely, while still others adapted to my newly forming body. I could hear my bones crunch as they shortened even more and when my morph was almost complete, my face started to change. Whiskers grew and the cat's sense of smell almost blew me away, right as my ears were sliding to the top of my head.  
  
My morph was almost done, but I felt something was missing, and that's when the Lynx's brain came into play. I knew somewhat what to expect because I had researched and grown up with cats all my life, but I didn't expect anything like this. This animal thought it was king (or queen should I say because it was female).  
  
It thought that every animal should fear it, but this animal itself had no fear. It worried about wolves, but wasn't scared of them. Oh, and another thing, it was hungry. I started to stalk something, something that looked like a large chicken.  
  
An unsuspecting red tail, what a tasty treat. You eat my young, so I will eat you.  
  
And that's when I pounced (or should I say attacked). My legs, like coiled springs, sent me flying into the air right above my unsuspecting prey. Dinner is served!  
  
"Tobias! Watch out! Jessica hasn't got control of her morph yet! Fly!" Rachel yelled.  
  
This startled me, so I turned my head and fell to the ground, luckily landing on all fours, as cats normally do.  
  
And that's when I realized what I was. I'm not a Lynx, I'm a human and I'm trying out this new morph to fight this war against the Yeerks.  
  
Sorry Tobias, I forgot. This morph is kind-of hard to control. It's really hungry, I said, or did I? Wait a second, I can talk, but how?  
  
"Oh, oops, we forgot to mention. When you are in morph, you can thought speak," said Jake.  
  
What?  
  
You can talk my directing your thoughts at one person, to a group of people, or to everyone, added Ax.  
  
You tell me this now. Oh well, thanks anyway.  
  
You probably should get out of morph now, it's getting late and there's a group of wolves heading our way. They're about a mile east, said Tobias.  
  
Okay, but I was just starting to have fun.  
  
"Oh, and one more thing," added Jake. "You need to learn how to morph clothes." But at that point, I had already started to morph.  
  
"Okay guys, Jake, Marco, Ax, everybody turn around while Jessica unmorphs," said Cassie.  
  
I don't understand why we have to do this, Ax said watching a little while longer before he to turned around.  
  
I kept fur until I was almost done with my morph, it looked really cool. But then it too went away, sucking back up into my skin. Once I got dressed, the guys turned back around and Rachel, Cassie, Jake and Marco headed back to Jake's leaving me with Ax and Tobias in the woods for the night.  
  
It was really cold that night too (not to mention I had short sleeves on), and I was shivering in the nest of leaves and grasses I had made, which was now my bed. At one point during that night, I felt someone come up and lie next to me, something big and furry. I opened my eyes just a peak and realized it was Ax, looking down on me doing his Andalite smile, the one with his eyes.  
  
"Thanks Ax," I said, smiling, even though I was really sleepy and said it with a yawn.  
  
No problem, said Ax, anything for a friend. And that's when I fell asleep, wondering what the next day would bring. Probably my death. Oh, joy. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclamier: I don't own Animorphs *sighs* K.A. Applegate does. But that doesn't mean I can't right this! :) He he he. But anyway...Enjoy the fanfic. This is the first fanfic I've ever written and I hope you enjoy it. Ja ne!**  
  
Chapter 7:  
  
I was wrong, this day wasn't to bring my death, but we had decided to instead try contacting the Chee. I was surprised to find out that Erek was a Chee, he seemed just like a normal kid to me and was actually my best friend in fifth grade too.  
  
"Erek's a Chee, huh? I would've never guessed. He seemed just as ordinary as you and me," I said kind of surprised at the information I had just learned. I had met up with Jake behind his house with Tobias and Ax, in human morph of course. The only problem was that I had mysteriously disappeared off the Earth for six whole days and I couldn't go walking around the streets with the Yeerks looking for me. Because of this, I had sent Tobias out early that morning to find me a mouse. I was going to absorb its DNA, then give it back to him to eat for breakfast, yummy.  
  
The plan Ax, Tobias and I had came up with was I was going to morph a mouse and ride around in Ax's pocket until we reached Erek's house. Since Ax was wearing the clothes that were in his bag, he put my clothes in the bag for me and was going to carry them to Erek's house. I was going to demorph in the bathroom of Erek's house, get dressed and then join the others.  
  
I still didn't understand how an entire race could fit in one house, but I guess it would all make sense when we got there right? I sure hoped so.  
  
Ax, could you walk a little differently, I feel like I'm going to go flying out of your pocket! I said, as I bounced up and down, and this way and that, holding onto the lining of his pocket for dear life.  
  
"Sorry Jessica, but like I told you before, these legs are very unsteady."  
  
I know, but still. You think being a human is touch, try being a mouse. This thing is so confused, its going insane! Or wants to anyway.  
  
"I am sorry, I will try to walk differently."  
  
"Ax, don't walk like that," Rachel said with a snicker. "People are going to think there is something wrong with you."  
  
"Yeah man, people were looking at you odd before too man when it looked like you were talking to your pocket," commented Marco, also laughing.  
  
"But I was only talking to Jessica."  
  
"Everyone else doesn't know that," said Jake. At that point I swear his pocket just got hotter. I would bet money on that he was blushing.  
  
"I don't understand this human emotion, it makes me want to run and hide, and my cheeks are getting hot," said Ax.  
  
Don't worry about it Ax, you're just a little embarrassed. What you described is what happens when we feel regret for something that we shouldn't of done that causes people to think lesser of us, I told him.  
  
"Oh, I see. Well then Jessica, I guess I cannot talk to you until we get to the house of the Chee."  
  
Don't sweat it Ax, I said.  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
Just relax. Until we get to Erek's that is.  
  
So we walked for about ten minutes. I peeked my head out of Ax's jeans pocket to see where we were, and Marco had been right. We were just a few houses down from my own. I really did miss being home, but I didn't miss the homework or the essays. Now I had bigger things on my mind.  
  
"Well, here we are," said Jake.  
  
I still don't understand how you could possibly fit an entire race into a normal house, and besides, I've been in his house before and I didn't see anything odd.  
  
"You won't," said Jake. "Until you get into the basement."  
  
I still don't get it.  
  
"You'll see," added Cassie. At that point we were walking up the steps to Erek's house.  
  
"Hi guys," Erek said, just like anyone his age would. "Come in," he said, after briefly glancing outside the door and looking around. Jake had told me earlier that he had called Erek to tell him that we were coming over.  
  
"Can we go some place private," Jake asked once we were inside the house and the door was closed behind us.  
  
"Sure, we can hang out in the basement." At this point, I was guessing this was some kind of cover-up to make everything appear normal, right? "Dad! My friends just arrived, you know, Jake and everyone else. We're going into the basement to hangout," Erek yelled up the stairs.  
  
"All right," Erek's father yelled back.  
  
Wait, I need to morph back to human.  
  
"Oh, right. I almost forgot about Jessica. By the way, Tobias is outside keeping watch," said Jake.  
  
"Okay," said Erek. "Can she wait until we're in the basement."  
  
Sure, I replied. I had been practicing morphing earlier that morning when no one was watching and could finally morph clothing. It was just one of Rachel's old leotards that she had found while cleaning out her closet, but it was enough. Tobias had brought it to me that morning when he had finished talking with her. It was kind-of cool because it was leopard print, but it was just a little faded.  
  
At that point, I felt Ax start to walk again. I heard Erek, or someone, open a door and then I felt like we were moving downward. Ax must've been walking down a flight of stairs.  
  
Is it safe for me to morph now? I asked as we reached a landing. I mean after I get out of Ax's pocket, of course.  
  
"Sure," said Erek. "Just hold on a second." And that's when I felt a really swift sensation of heading downward. At this point, Ax was taking me out of his pocket and placing me on the floor, about two feet from my back of clothes and his feet.  
  
I started to demorph and the first thing that went was that wretched tail. I mean, it was cool because it was prehensile, but honestly, it looked as if a hairy worm was sticking out of my butt. Then my nose and face went back to normal, followed by my eyes, mouth and teeth. Then I started to grow, the whole room we were in started to get smaller, and Ax's feet, that had started out being taller than I was, were now only a few inches high. My legs then started to change back and so did my feet. My nice sharp little claws turned back once again to pointless human nails. My bones made all sorts of crunching and grinding noises at the same point as I felt my organs return to their normal places and shapes. At this point I was getting ready to stand and Ax was helping me up. Then my fur disappeared and my ears returned back to normal. I was going to miss that sharp sense of smell and hearing, oh well, back to saving the world, and my life for that matter (well sort of anyway).  
  
When I was finally fully human, feeling the last of my gray hair getting sucked back into my body, I noticed that we were in some kind of elevator. As I was done putting my clothes on (over my morphing suit), the elevator stopped and we were now in a hall way. It was then that I realized Ax was almost done morphing back into his normal Andalite body. Once he was finished, we walked to the door straight in front of us, and Erek opened it with a key that had been in his sneaker. When the door was opened I couldn't believe my eyes, way under Erek's house there was a huge field and hundreds of what looked like...dogs? 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:  
  
"Whoa," I whispered. "What are they?"  
  
"We are the Chee," said Erek.  
  
"I wasn't expecting something like this, that's for sure," I said, awestruck at the enormous size of the place which I was now in.  
  
"Now that we are here, we can talk about how we are going to fake Jessica's death," said Erek, as he dropped his holographic image, revealing something that looked like a dog in the shape of a robot, weird. But I got over it, after starring at him awestruck for five minutes.  
  
"Oh, right. I all most forgot," I said. "I was thinking that you could make it look like I had been attacked by wolves." At that point, everyone looked at me kind of weird. I think they found it funny how I already knew how I wanted to die, oh well. "But make it look like I had been struggling in the woods for a week or so too."  
  
"For once, Jake isn't the one coming up with the entire plan," said Marco. "Jake, better watch out! Jessica is challenging you on how to perform our next mission!"  
  
"Oh, shut up Marco," Rachel said with a grin. All Jake could do was laugh, I think he felt relieved that for once, he wouldn't have to be in charge of everything. but when he was done, he had that serious look on his face again.  
  
"I mean, could you project a holographic image of me...," and at that point, I was looking at a totally believable replica of myself, scary.  
  
"How would you make the wounds so they look like wolf bites?" and then he made what looked like huge chunks of flesh ripped from his body. He didn't look like he'd been attacked by wolves, he looked like he'd been attacked by a cheese grater. "Um...," I said. "That's not quite what I had in mind..."  
  
"You guys wouldn't happen to have wolf morphs would you?" I asked them.  
  
"Of course," said Cassie. "Why?" But I think at that point she all ready knew what I was going to say.  
  
"Could you guys attack Erek in wolf morph, I mean, not really attack him, but the holographic image? You know, so the bites look like, and almost actually are, wolf bites ?" I asked.  
  
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Rachel said looking at Jake.  
  
"Sound good to me too," said Jake.  
  
"Sounds like fun to me," said Marco. "Nothing like a good Chee for brunch in the morning. A great way to start the day." I would've laughed, this was way too serious. My life or death depended on that we got this right, really it did.  
  
That's when everyone started to morph wolf. I made sure to get out of the way so they wouldn't attack me instead of Erek, that would be a bad thing, very bad.  
  
"Just remember guys," said Jake. "Go for the person that looks like Jessica, except that that person doesn't have their own scent." It was kind- of weird, I mean my new and now only friends were sitting around me discussing how they were going to kill me.  
  
"Got it," everyone said, not simultaneously though. And that's when they all started to morph wolf and when I realized that it was really scary how they went through the process. They couldn't control it the way I could, in fact, I don't think they could control it at all. Cassie had some control, but even the way she morphed wasn't like mine.  
  
When they were done, they each attacked Erek one at a time. Where ever the wolf bite me (the holographic image), Erek would match the infliction by showing that a huge hunk of skin and muscle was missing. At one point I looked really bad. I was basically covered in my own blood and my bones were showing in numerous places, not to mention my throat had been ripped put, along with some internal organs. You know, the organs that are supposed to be on the inside, well, not anymore.  
  
"Okay guys, you can stop now," I said with a slight quiver in my voice, right before I threw up. I threw up so hard that I saw gum that they didn't even make anymore now on the grass in front of me. I mean, it's one thing to see yourself, it's another to see yourself get attacked by wolves, but being disemboweled, that was too much, way too much. I almost passed out, and probably would've if it wasn't for the thought-speak voice that I head in my head.  
  
Don't worry Jessica, you're not going to end up this way. I am sorry you had to see that.  
  
"Thanks Ax," I said in a whisper only he could hear. "I appreciate it."  
  
I was a little unsteady on me feet at this point and Ax stood behind me, just in case I fell. I was starting to like Ax more than Jake now. I always knew that Jake and Cassie liked each other, but now I realized how serious they really were. To add to my all ready long list of issues and problems, I now at a crush on an Andalite, could this get any weirder? Unfortunately, it did.  
  
The next day would be the day that my holographic image of my dead body be lain on the edge of the forest near Cassie's house, along with Erek of course. Tobias, Ax, and I were to go deeper into the woods than normal to avoid any contact with the Yeerks when they came for my body. You see, Cassie was to tell a police officer she knew was infested that she had seen what looked like a body in the edge of the forest by her house. She was going to lead him to Erek who would be displaying the holographic image of me, dead of course. It was supposed to be a really quiet discovery, not supposed to get out, but someone else found the body. Cassie's father saw it as he was walking to their barn. I guess we didn't put it deep enough into the forest, oops. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclamier: I don't own Animorphs *sighs* K.A. Applegate does. But that doesn't mean I can't right this! :) He he he. But anyway...Enjoy the fanfic. This is the first fanfic I've ever written and I hope you enjoy it. Ja ne!**  
  
Chapter 9:  
  
Cassie's father of course reported the body he saw to the police. And if things weren't going bad enough all ready, Cassie's father's screams drew attention to Rachel's father who had been dropping Rachel off at Cassie's house. It didn't help that Rachel's father was a reporter. So instead of the nice little murder we planned, if there is such a thing as that, the whole nation knew within a matter of hours, the grisly death of Jessica.  
  
"Great, this is just wonderful!" Jake exclaimed as he threw a newspaper at my feet. "You know what I saw on TV this morning? 'Teenage girl's life brought to the end by an attack of raging wolves,' I nearly choked to death when I was eating my cereal."  
  
"Wow, I was on TV! Not the way I had hoped or imagined I would be, but TV all the same!" I said, trying to lighten the situation because you see, at that point, Jake looked like he was going to kill me, for real this time.  
  
"I knew we shouldn't have done this," Marco said.  
  
"So, you would've rather killed me...for REAL?!"  
  
"Jake, calm down!" said Cassie.  
  
"Yeah, we didn't go through all this work, to kill her anyway," said Marco.  
  
"Well, if they all ready think she's dead.."said Rachel.  
  
"I don't like where this is going," I said, while slowly backing away from Rachel, and behind Ax, since he was in his Andalite form. At this point I was sure Ax wouldn't try anything without Jake's command, right? At least that's what I hoped. Really hoped.  
  
"You really don't want to get Xena mad," said Marco.  
  
"Yeah, I kind-of figured that out, Marco."  
  
"Rachel, we don't want to kill Jessica, again, right?"  
  
"But look what she did!"  
  
"It's not my fault Cassie's father found me, well sort-of me anyway. I mean I was dead, laying in a pool of my own blood, with my insides strewn around me. But look at it this way, at least the Yeerks know I'm dead know right? And they probably think you guys did it because I was a threat, after seeing Ax and all."  
  
"She does have a point there," said Rachel. "So I guess we can't kill her...yet."  
  
"Good Rachel, now that were not fixated on killing Jessica, lets move onto a different topic..." said Jake, trying to change the subject, it didn't work.  
  
"But now the whole United States knows! We can't cover that up!" said Marco.  
  
"Who says we need to? The Yeerks now know I'm dead, what's to worry about? Do you see any problem with this Ax?"  
  
No, it seems that you have fooled the Yeerks, at least for now.  
  
"Oh no!" I muttered to myself. "Um...guys? I just realized something."  
  
"What?" asked Jake, curiously.  
  
"You know how Cassie knows a lot about animals and everyone knows that, right?"  
  
"Yeah, what's your point?" said Marco.  
  
"Well, I'm kind of like Cassie, I know a lot about animals."  
  
"So?" asked Rachel.  
  
"So does my sister. She knows that wolves don't hunt close to civilization. And that they almost never hunt humans." And that piece of information left them staring at me wide eyed for five minutes. No one said anything. Then, I added, "If I know my sister, she'll be suspicious, and if the Yeerk feeds off that suspicion, then we might have a problem."  
  
"Great, just great!" said Marco. "Now we have to hope that your sister doesn't realize this immediately and go blabbing to Visser Three about her suspicions."  
  
"What if she does? One of two things could happen, Visser Three could take her seriously and then think that the "Andalite bandits" are in the forest or..." I began.  
  
"Or what," Jake asked, knowing what the answer would be.  
  
"Or...he'll kill her for wasting his time." At this point I put my head down and started to cry. I did not want my sister dead, even if she was now the enemy, I didn't care. I knew Jake could relate to this because his brother was a Controller. I felt a hand on my shoulder, I knew it was Jake's. I looked up and saw him looking down an me. I could see it in his eyes that he knew how I felt. He knew what I was going through.  
  
"Don't worry Jessica," he said. "We'll save your sister." 


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclamier: I don't own Animorphs *sighs* K.A. Applegate does. But that doesn't mean I can't right this! :) He he he. But anyway...Enjoy the fanfic. This is the first fanfic I've ever written and I hope you enjoy it. Ja ne!**  
  
Chapter 10:  
  
The meeting was basically over after that. Everyone was shocked by what I had said, and even more shocked that Jake thought we should save my sister. Everyone was a little hesitant about agreeing whether we should or shouldn't go on the mission. Marco thought that Jake had gone insane and all most left, right before Rachel stopped him. Rachel agreed that it was worth a shot, Cassie totally agreed because she knew what I said about wolves was true, Ax and Tobias agreed, saying they would help any way they could, and Marco reluctantly agreed, still believing that we had all gone insane.  
  
We weren't exactly sure how we were going to do it because they had never tried anything like this before (and neither had I) and everyone had to leave before the idea was settled. Since the next day was Saturday, we all decided that we would meet early the next morning to decide how we were going to conduct the mission that would take place that night, the mission that would save both the Animorphs and my sister.  
  
"So how are we going to do this?" asked Marco the next morning. We had met up in the forest so Ax could stay in his Andalite morph and because we had agreed a while ago that I would stay as far away from civilization as necessary so that I wouldn't be discovered, alive this time.  
  
"I was thinking that maybe we should just sneak into her house tonight, find some way to keep her asleep and just carry her out the window," I suggested.  
  
"And how are we going to do this?" Marco asked. "We can't just waltz right into your house and say 'Hi we're here to see Cossette.' At oh, I don't know, three o'clock in the morning!" said Marco.  
  
"We morph, duh," said Rachel.  
  
"But as what?" Jake thought to himself.  
  
"Oh, that's simple. One of my pet cat's. Luckily enough, I have seven and since they are all out-doors cats, he should each be able to find one, acquire it, and morph it."  
  
"Sounds easily enough," said Rachel.  
  
"Did I mention some of them are tomcats?"  
  
"Okay, maybe not that easy."  
  
"You guys have any good morphs for finding cats?" They all looked at one another and smiled. Turns out, they each had at least one bird of prey morph.  
  
"How am I going to catch one?" I asked curiously, "Since I only have two morphs, and neither would be good at catching cats."  
  
Well, we need something to lure the cats out with, said Tobias.  
  
"Oh no! There is no way!"  
  
You have to Jessica, real mice wouldn't work right. They would try and hide, you need to lure the cats into the open. Right then I had a look of total horror on my face. I had watched my cats hunt mice, this was not going to be fun. At that point, Marco started to laugh. He tried to conceal it, one by putting his hand over his mouth, the other by coughing.  
  
"This is not funny Marco." But instead of stopping, he just kept laughing harder. I was so mad at that point, I started to think what a lynx would do to him if she was in this situation. Before I knew it, I had razor sharp claws and was lunging at Marco. Before anyone could stop me, I jumped right on top of him. I started to laugh when I saw the look of horror on his face right before I hit him. I knocked him of the bale of hay he was sitting on and slashed him as hard as I could with my razor sharp claws.  
  
"Hey, I just got this shirt!" was all he could say after I jumped back off him and headed towards were I was sitting before, next to Ax and Jake. When he finally got back up onto the bale of hay he had been sitting on, after struggling for a couple of minutes, everyone noticed the four slash marks across Marco's shirt. They didn't stop at the shirt either, they went right threw the morphing outfit and ended up as four bloody claw marks across his chest, oops.  
  
After that incident, they decided that whenever they had meetings only one of us would be present, either Marco or me, unless it was an emergency of course. Little did they know that I personally did not agree to this and that I planned on going to all the meetings, one way or another. In other words, they would soon find out just how stubborn I could be, when I wanted to. (But hey didn't know this would come later of course.)  
  
We then decided that about after-noon today we would try to capture my poor kitties Chee, Star, Kuga, Kito, Spitz, Binx, and Zorro, four of which were tomcats.  
  
I really don't like this idea, I said, gloomily.  
  
Don't worry it'll be fun, right Rachel? said Marco.  
  
Shut up, Marco, said Rachel.  
  
What does he mean, Rachel?  
  
Oh, nothing, she said. Isn't that right Marco? she said in a very angry tone.  
  
Right, said Marco. In a way.. he mumbled to himself, snickering.  
  
Whatever, I said.  
  
Then we headed towards my house. Tobias had been watching earlier and called us over when everyone had left and no one was home. Ax had volunteered to carry me after I had morphed into mouse (of course).  
  
They flew around for about ten minutes, and I had to keep my mouse from attacking Ax. At one point I lost control.  
  
OW! Ax screamed. Jessica, why are you biting me?  
  
It's my morph, it doesn't like being up high in the air. It thinks you are going to eat me, I said right before I bite Ax really hard, causing him to drop me. Aaaaahhhhhh, I screamed as I started tp plummet towards the ground.  
  
Ax, what did you do? Marco asked.  
  
I dropped Jessica, he said, as he started to go into a dive.  
  
Allow me, said Jake. I have the fastest diving morph. And then I saw this huge bird come lunging at me, talons outstretched. He caught me about three inches before I hit the ground.  
  
Jessica, are you okay, Jake asked me.  
  
I'm f-f-fine, I t-t-think, I said a little shaky. Once I recovered my strength, I think Ax felt sorry for dropping me, even more than me than he all ready did.  
  
I'm sorr... he began, but didn't have time to finish because I interjected.  
  
You idiot, I'm going to kill you! I said screaming at the top of my lungs, I mean thought-speak. You could've killed me! I mean, yes, I did bite you, and I'm sorry for that, but I wasn't trying to kill you! Aaarrgghh! As you can probably see, I was a little peeved.  
  
I am still very sorry, Jessica. This morph doesn't like to be bitten. It was it's instinct to drop you.  
  
Yeah, I know. I'm sorry for yelling at you, but I really didn't want to die for the second time in a two week period, I replied. Even though I am small, from being dropped from two miles up in the air, I would've gone 'Splat!' when I hit the ground.  
  
Mmm, yummy. Mouse pancake! said Marco.  
  
Ha, ha, ha. Very funny Marco. As Cassie was telling me earlier, I heard you didn't have the time of your life in ant morph either. That kept him quiet. As soon as I said that, he stooped laughing and didn't say anything for the next five minutes.  
  
Hey, I think I see a cat down there! said Rachel.  
  
I'll go after him! Marco volunteered. Before I could give any warning Marco was all ready diving towards the seemingly helpless kitty cat.  
  
Awe, he looks he saw cute. And at that moment, I had this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, to ask Marco a very important question.  
  
Marco what color is that cat? I asked, since my mouse vision wasn't that accurate from that high up.  
  
Awe, he's even purring.  
  
Marco, just answer the question, what color is it!?  
  
It's a really nice brown-gray with brown-black stripes.  
  
Marco, get away from it NOW! I yelled frantically, but I all ready could sense it was too late, especially when I heard him scream.  
  
Aaaaaahhhhhhh, he screamed. Captain, I've been hit, I'm going down!  
  
Marco! Watch out, don't let him get on top of you!  
  
What could this little cat possibly du to me? It was a lucky shot that he hit me.  
  
Okay, don't say I didn't warn you. Oh, and by the way, that's the biggest toughest tom cat that I own. He's constantly bringing me dead birds, even rather large ones.  
  
Yeah right, said Marco.  
  
Wait a second is that the cat...Tobias began. Uh oh Marco, Fly, NOW! Fly like your life depends on it, because it does! But he was too late, because if I knew Zorro, he'd all ready be pouncing on Marco from behind.  
  
Aaaaahhhhh, Marco screamed again. Get this big cat OFF me, NOW!  
  
Can't say I didn't warn you! I added in a taunting voice.  
  
Hold on Marco, Rachel said, really annoyed.  
  
She dived toward Marco in her bald eagle morph, trying to rip Zorro off his back, needless to say it didn't work. Instead of taking Zorro off of Marco, she ended up getting attacked by Zorro instead.  
  
Rachel! Tobias yelled as he dived toward the ongoing fight, trying to pull Rachel off my poor sweet innocent little kitty. I knew Tobias liked Rachel, and I mean liked Rachel, so I started to dive down, knowing that Tobias would do whatever it took to protect Rachel from my cat.  
  
Tobias! Don't you dare kill or even hurt my cat! I yelled as Tobias approached the fight. Jake drop me, NOW!  
  
What?  
  
Drop me!  
  
What are you insane! he said, flying closer to the ground.  
  
Drop me off two feet in front of my cat, and everyone else...Get away from my kitty! When they heard me, they all started to fly away, or at least tried to. Zorro was now after Tobias, but once he saw me, he stopped, and I could feel something moving towards me.  
  
I started to run, to run as fast as my little mouse legs could carry me, which is pretty fast for mouse standards, but not fast enough to outrun my cat. All of a sudden I felt a huge pressure on my tail, and I tried to run, but I wasn't going anywhere.  
  
Um guys, a little help HERE!  
  
No way, I'm not going back down there again, near that vicious monster! said Rachel.  
  
No way, Xena doesn't want to go? Is the world going to end? said Marco. But, I have to say, I agree with Rachel for once.  
  
I am definitely not going down there either, he almost killed me! said Tobias.  
  
If that cat brought down Rachel, then it will easily bring down me, Jake, and Ax, said Cassie.  
  
Fine, I guess I'm on my own then. So I started to morph back into human.  
  
Are you sure no one is home Tobias?  
  
Yeah, pretty sure, but...  
  
Good, I said as I completed my morph back to human. "Here Zorro, come here." And then my poor little scratched up, now totally and utterly confused cat came up to me, and started purring.  
  
I can't believe this!" said Marco, landing in the nearest tree. That vicious blood thirsty monster is actually not attacking you!  
  
"What, this harmless cat? He didn't mean any harm did you Zorro?" He started purring even louder almost as in reply to my question. and then he started to curl up in a ball and fall asleep in my lap.  
  
I am soo acquiring that cat. said Marco, in a voice (or should I say thought speak) that sounded like he wanted to get revenge.  
  
Yes, I can see your reasons. This particular animal is quite aggressive and efficient at attacking prey the same size as and almost bigger than its own, said Ax.  
  
"Anyone else want to acquire this cat."  
  
I am not going anywhere near that monster, said Rachel.  
  
Yeah, me either, said Tobias.  
  
The rest of the cats were a lot easier to acquire than Zorro. Even though Spitz was not to particularly thrilled and took off a couple of Rachel's feathers. Tobias went after Chee, and had a fairly easy time acquiring him because Chee is fairly docile. I acquired Binx, since he was my favorite and was the easiest to catch since I wasn't in mouse morph at the time.Ax tried desperately to acquire Kuga, but I forgot to mention that other than being friendly, she has an unearthly fascination with feathers. This meant that any time Ax would try to go anywhere near her (after I led her out into the open while in mouse morph), she would playfully bat at him, except she would use her claws.  
  
Jessica, is there anyway I can catch this cat without it clawing me to death? asked Ax, now just a little annoyed. By then, she had all ready taken out quite a few of his feathers leaving him looking like he had mange.  
  
Ax, you look like you got attacked by killer fleas or something! Marco said with a laugh.  
  
Jake, you want to go down and help Ax, before my cat takes out anymore of his flight feathers? I asked.  
  
Sure, said Jake, laughing too. But he wasn't laughing for long because before I could say anything Star was coming up behind Jake and pounced.  
  
Aaaaahhhhhh, Jake screamed. Get this cat off me! At this point, I started laughing, until I remembered that Star never plays cat-and-mouse, or at this case, cat-and-hawk. She always goes for the killing bite first, she never plays around.  
  
Tobias! Go help Jake now! Star is going to go for the killing bite whenever Jake's neck is unprotected!  
  
What? Tobias said, shocked.  
  
Dive towards Star and Jake now! I screamed.  
  
I'm going with you! yelled Rachel.  
  
I'll go help Ax, said Cassie.  
  
Same here, said Marco.  
  
The next thing I saw I will never forgot. My cat Kuga was now being attacked and fighting a northern harrier and two ospreys while Star was battling a red tailed hawk, bald eagle, and a peregrine falcon. Well, I really can't say she was "battling" the peregrine falcon, she was actually trying to kill him and eat him. After about 10 minutes, Cassie and Marco somehow figured out a way to lift Kuga up, into the air and carry her over to the woods. Ax had to walk there because he had lost a good number of his flight feathers and could no longer fly. Star was still busy trying to kill Jake and completely ignored the two huge birds that were trying to pluck her off her prey's back. Then, for no reason at all, she lunged at Rachel, who was knocked to the ground and sent rolling, a mess of feathers and fur. Tobias was so fed up at this point he lunged at the spitting and hissing ball of fury and ended up dragging away a very angry and hungry, Star.  
  
Jessica, why didn't you warn us that your cats are so vicious? said Rachel, bleeding from several different wounds on her chest, head, and wings.  
  
Well, they aren't that way around humans. Actually, they are normally even really affectionate around strangers. I guess they just don't like birds, I said.  
  
Really, I hadn't noticed, said Marco.  
  
But the fights weren't over yet. Ax had been lucky and once he demorphed, Kuga started to calm down and even let Ax hold her as he acquired her. Marco wasn't too happy about that though.  
  
I can't believe it! exclaimed Marco, almost falling out of the tree he had perched in while watching Ax have such an easy time with the cat. I almost become cat food down there and that cat is actually purring? There's no way!  
  
With a little help from Rachel and Tobias, Cassie acquired Star. It took both Rachel and Tobias to prevent Cassie from getting bitten to death, but even so, Cassie walked away from Star with four fresh bleeding claw marks down each of her arms. You now may be wondering what happened to Jake, well, he wasn't very lucky either.  
  
I lured Kito down from a nearby tree in my mouse morph, with Jake waiting behind a nearby tree, demorphed, waiting for me to lure Kito his way. Well, I wasn't that lucky. As I led Kito to Jake I realized something very important, Kito was the fastest of my cats, and she loved to play with mice. But I remembered this too late.  
  
Aaaaaahhhhhhh, I screamed as Kito's fangs sung into my soft mouse flesh. Jake help! I yelled, but not soon enough because I felt Kito begin to run. And you know to where? Under the porch. Under the porch that was only six inches high. Great.  
  
Um, guys. I think we have a problem, I said.  
  
Jessica, I just saw one of your cats run under the deck with a mouse in its mouth, Tobias said.  
  
That would be me.  
  
You're under the deck? said Marco. Question, how are we supposed to get under your deck?  
  
Better yet, how high is it under there? asked Jake.  
  
Approximately six inches? I replied.  
  
Uh oh, said Rachel.  
  
Major, uh oh, said Marco.  
  
You guys wouldn't be able to get me now would you? I asked, trying to hold back the intense pain I was feeling.  
  
What should me morph? Marco asked Jake.  
  
That's simple, one of her cats, said Ax.  
  
Um, guys. Everything is starting to get really dim and I can't feel my back legs. Is that bad?  
  
This is not good, Jake said.  
  
I'm going in, said Ax.  
  
La, la, la, la,la,. I said. Whoa, this is interesting, I don't feel pain anymore. And the mouse brain doesn't seem hungry or scared anymore either. Huh. I'm tired, maybe I should take a nap.  
  
You guys, I'm going to sleep now, I'm so tired, wake me up when my two hours are almost up. And that's when I heard two cats start to fight.  
  
Ax, what's going on in their? I heard Jake say, or was it Jake. What were all these voices doing in my head. Didn't they know I was trying to sleep?  
  
Hurry, Ax-man! She's almost dead. I can see you there, under the deck. Oh, she does not look good!  
  
And that's when I felt something or someone pick me up, and start to carry me. Where was I going? I felt like I was floating. Then, a voice in my head.  
  
Jessica, you need to demorph, I heard a voice in my head say. It sounded familiar. Jessica, you must demorph, immediately! I knew that voice. It was Ax. I liked Ax, Ax the Andalite.  
  
Okay, I said. And I started to demorph. I felt my senses come back to me. The first one being pain. OW, why do I hurt so much?  
  
You don't want to know, just keep demorphing, said Rachel.  
  
I can't feel my back legs, I said  
  
That's because you don't have any right now, I heard Marco say.  
  
WHAT! I yelled, now demorphing a lot faster. I felt my back legs now. My half human back legs. But at that point, I was glad to have back legs at all.  
  
When I was done demorphing, I was shaking. I was whole once again, but still I was in shock. After about ten minutes, I regained the ability to talk, well, sort of. "J-j-Jake did y-you aqu-quire any of my c-c-cats yet?" I asked in a not-so-steady voice."  
  
"No, but I will be shortly," he said as he turned his head in the direction of the forest.  
  
Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW! I heard someone yelling in thought speak. Jake this cat does NOT want to be flying right now.  
  
"Marco I presume?" I said.  
  
"Yeah, I sent Marco to go get Kito again. I though she would've calmed down my now, I guess not," he said with a laugh. Poor Marco. I was never really fond of him, but I guess you could say I felt bad for him right then, in a way.  
  
Jake, will you come here and get this cat before I end up being a bucket of KFO, Kentucky Fried Osprey.  
  
"Sure," said Jake, as he headed towards the edge of the woods with a smile on his face. When he came back I was pretty sure that now everyone had acquired one of my cats, but Jake wasn't. "Has everyone acquired one of Jessica's...kmm...cats yet?  
  
Yes, said Rachel.  
  
And just in time, said Tobias. Because Jessica, your family should be arriving home in approximately five minutes.  
  
"Great," I mumbled to myself. "But one question here, what am I going to morph for the flight back? I am NOT morphing mouse again, NEVER! There was just way too many close calls in that morph."  
  
I already have that covered, said Jake, now starting to morph back to his peregrine falcon, since the others were already in their birds of prey morphs. I told Tobias that if anything went wrong with your mouse morph, to go capture some small bird for you to fly back as. And here he is now.  
  
This is the only bird I could catch, he said, swooping down towards me and placing a small catbird in my hand. Isn't that ironic, a cat-bird. Oh, well. But anyway, I started to acquire it and the bird went limp in my hand as its DNA entered my blood stream to join the lynx and the mouse. "Thanks Tobias," I said, as I opened my hands and tossed the bird lightly into the air once it came out of the trance.  
  
No problem, said Tobias. It was actually kind of fun, I just swooped down on it unsuspectingly, it didn't even know what hit him! he said with a laugh. But I had already began my new morph.  
  
The first thing I felt was a falling sensation, but it was strange because my feet never left the ground. When I was about two feet tall, still mostly human, my skin turned a gray-blue color and the patterns of feathers appeared on my skin, almost like tattoos. Then they sprouted up, like little pine trees, covering my entire body. I felt the bones in my fingers elongate and then pop right out of my skin. I tried to scream, but my lips had already became as hard as finger nails and were forming a beak, so instead it sounded more like bird's version of a cat, but human like too. "Mmmrrraaaooohhhwww," I screamed, too loud I think. Oh, oh, oh, I began in thought speak. You are NOT supposed to be able to see your own bones. But as I said it, they were already beginning to be covered with skin, and then the catbird's grayish feathers. Moments later, I had wings, whole wings, and I was very happy about that fact, very, very happy.  
  
Don't worry Jess, that happened to me once too, said Marco.  
  
Thanks, that really helps, I mumbled, basically to myself. Well, at least I'm still alive, I replied, as I felt the last of my internal organs rearrange themselves to fit now the catbird's diet and felt my bones finishing hollowing out so I should be lighter, now built for flight. But when I looked down, I still had normal feet and legs. Although as I watched, I saw them turn a blackish gray color and became astonished as my toes became much longer and then melted together to form three toes, becoming like a smaller version of tyrannosaurus feet. At the end of each of toes was one black claw. Cool, but I still preferred my lynx. This bird was just a snack to that morph.  
  
Okay, I'm done, I said. Tobias, this is a small bird and won't be able to fly far, so I need to know.  
  
What?  
  
How far away is the part of the wood that I'm supposed to be staying in?  
  
Maybe a mile, why?  
  
Because I don't think that this morph is going to be able to make it that far. Especially because I think that this bird is a ground nester and doesn't like flying far above the ground.  
  
Great, said Marco.  
  
All right, said Jake. Who wants to carry Jessica when she can't fly anymore?  
  
She's a small bird so anyone should be able to carry her, right? asked Rachel.  
  
Right, said Ax. So since I must head into the forest anyway, I will carry Jessica when she can no longer fly.  
  
Thanks Ax.  
  
No problem.  
  
As for the rest of us, we're going to fly to Cassie's barn and demorph, we have a long night ahead us, said Jake.  
  
Jake? asked Tobias.  
  
What?  
  
We need to leave, now! Jessica's family, including Cossette, should be arriving home in about, oh, I don't know, thirty seconds!  
  
All right then, let's go! said Rachel. So Cassie, Rachel, Marco, and Jake flew off to Cassie's barn and Ax, Tobias and I headed deep into the woods, near Tobias's meadow, to get some rest before the mission that now lay ahead of us.  
  
I was preoccupied thinking about my family as I flew over the forest that was now my home. I almost flew into a towering spruce if it wasn't for Ax, who went into a dive and scooped me up, just before I plowed right into the trunk of the tree.  
  
Jessica, are you all right? Ax asked me, privately. You seem as if you are somewhere else?  
  
Yeah, I'm fine. I just miss home. I miss my sister and my parents too. I mean, I miss the sister that I had before she was infested. It's not like I have anything against living in the forest with you and Tobias. That's what I had always wanted to do, to be out in the wilderness, trying to save the world if you will. I get to do that now, only in a different way. But still, like they say, home is where the heart is, and I miss the way my life was before I became an Animorph, before I became infested.  
  
Yes, I know what you mean. I too miss my home. My home on the Andalite home world.  
  
Wow, I guess I just took it for granted that you liked living here in the forest, I never thought that you wanted to be home too.  
  
Yes, in fact I almost betrayed the Animorphs a long time ago when we came about an Andalite battle ship. If it wasn't for the fact that the captain was a traitor, than I would probably be with them right now.  
  
Wow, I'm really sorry about that Ax. You probably haven't seen another Andalite in a long time huh?  
  
Yes, but the Earth and its people are now my own, and Jake, is now my Prince.  
  
I honestly never knew you felt that way Ax, and here I am making a big deal out of not being able to be home, while you are stranded millions of miles away from your own planet never mind your own home. I'm sorry Ax.  
  
It is okay, maybe someday they will come back for me, but I sensed doubt in his voice.  
  
Yeah, they probably will, I said, trying to give him some hope, something to dream about, something to look forward to, but I doubted it. I highly doubted it. After some while, we started to talk again.  
  
Did you have any family back home, like any brothers or sisters or anything?  
  
Yes, I had a brother. His name was Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, Prince Elfangor.  
  
You probably miss him even more than I miss my sister, huh?  
  
More than you know.  
  
Why do you say that?  
  
Well, didn't you ever wonder how the Animorphs got their powers? You know, they didn't always have the 'morphing cube' as they call it. Someone else gave them the power to morph.  
  
Your brother, Elfangor?  
  
Yes. They, I mean the Animorphs, they never told you how they got their powers?  
  
No, I never really thought about it, not until you brought it up, not until now.  
  
I can only tell you what I have been told and what I've seen, and what I tell you now is what they told me and what I've experienced myself, he said. As we reached the edge of Tobias's meadow, Ax flew down into the trees with me in his talons. He set me down on the ground in front of a log and then landed on the log before hopping down beside me and beginning to demorph. There was a battle between the Andalites and the Yeerks in orbit around Earth. We thought for sure that we would win, since we had a dome ship with us, but the Yeerks had a secret weapon, a blade ship.  
  
"Visser Three's ship," I said to myself in a quiet whisper.  
  
Yes, the blade ship of Visser Three, Ax continued. I wanted to fight in the battle that was occurring then, but I couldn't, I was sent to the dome of the ship by Elfangor. I was, and still am, a lowly aristh, just a soldier in training, forbidden to fight in the war that raged outside my dome ship. I went to the dome that was soon ejected so the ship could move more freely.That's when the blade ship was first noticed, that's when our ship, the Andalite ship, was destroyed. I watched the battle as the dome was caught in the Earth's gravitational pull and then pulled down through the atmosphere. I ended up landing in the ocean, far away and safe from the battle now between our fighters and the Yeerks. Elfangor's ship was hit in the fight and wounded, it could no longer fly, so Elfangor landed it in an abandoned construction site where he met Cassie, Rachel, Jake, Tobias, and Marco. He himself was wounded and stumbled as he tried to walk off of his now useless ship. Knowing that the Earth was in danger of getting taken over by the Yeerks, he gave them the power to morph, breaking the law of Seerow's Kindness. We are never supposed to give our technology to another species, never. Right after he gave them the power to morph, Visser Three arrived. Visser Three morphed into a horrible creature from another planet and picked up Elfangor. Even though there was no hope for him, Elfangor fought back to the very end. Until Visser Three,... until Visser Three ate him in that horrible morph, that horrible creature he had become, even though he was already a horrible creature himself. The abomination that is Visser Three. I must kill him to avenge my brother's death, and I will. And that's were Ax left off. I couldn't say anything, couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't think. Well, I could think, and the only thing I could think about was an Andalite, just like Ax, Ax's own brother, dying the way he did, trying to save Earth, trying to save us. That's why Ax didn't kill me when he first met me out alone in the woods. He knew Elfangor had died to save the human race, to save people like me and Jake, and Cassie and Rachel and Marco, and even kids that were the way Tobias was.  
  
That's when I started to cry, and when I looked up, I noticed that Ax had started to cry too. I had never seen him cry before, and was even doubting that he could, but once I saw him then, I realized just how much like Elfangor he truly was and that maybe the Earth and it's people did have a chance after all. I then knew also that I would never see him cry again, and also now knew just how badly the Earth was in trouble, even if it could be saved. My sister meant more to me then, than ever before, and now I was determined to help her, no matter what the cost. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclamier: I don't own Animorphs *sighs* K.A. Applegate does. But that doesn't mean I can't right this! :) He he he. But anyway...Enjoy the fanfic. This is the first fanfic I've ever written and I hope you enjoy it. Ja ne!**  
  
Chapter 11:  
  
Okay, is everyone here? Jake asked as we gathered by the edge of the forest near my house. We had morphed cats deeper inside the forest and had walked to were my backyard met the woods. We had followed our own scent trails back to the house, or so it seemed. Truly we were following the scent of the cat we had morphed, now that we were an identical copy of that cat.  
  
We all had had some trouble at first, for example Marco killed and almost ate a mouse. When he regained control, Cassie and Rachel hadn't so they had started to fight over the mouse. Tobias was fine because he had morphed his cat Dude before and he knew what to expect. Jake couldn't control the cat's curiosity, so he ended up on his back playing with a leaf. I would've laughed if I could've. Ax was even worse because somehow he had found a feather, and I'll just say this, at that point, I really wished I had had my camera with me, too bad I wouldn't of been able to use it anyway, no opposable thumbs. Sigh. But, it has a hilarious sight. And me? I was fine. I knew exactly what to expect because one, I was an expert on cats, and two, I had morphed the lynx and knew some what, what to expect. I just sat and stared at the others watching them try out their cat morphs. But now we were together.  
  
Looking around me now I saw six of what looked like my cats, but who I knew were in actuality my friends; five Animorphs and one Andalite, were sitting in a circle behind my house on the edge of my backyard, peering up into my sister's bedroom.  
  
Yep, said Rachel. There's seven of us here.  
  
Okay, said Jake. Tobias, how long has Cossette's light been off for?  
  
Three hours, he replied. She fell asleep two and a half hours ago if that's what you wanted to know. I heard her breathing rate slow down. I guess we had forgotten how good a hawk's sense of hearing is. From what the others have told me, their sense of hearing is almost as good as their sense of sight. Tobias even thought that human eyes were dull compared to hawk eyes.  
  
All right, so our plan is we jump from the deck onto the tree and then follow the branch that leads to Cossette's window as close as we can to the house before we jump into her room, right? said Jake.  
  
Right, I said and then added, And be careful because I don't know about the Yeerk, but my sister is a light sleeper.  
  
Oh wonderful! said Marco, I guess to himself because no one was listening to him, as usual.  
  
I'll go first, I volunteered. Since this is my house and I know my way around. Not to mention the fact that this is my sister we're saving.  
  
Sounds good to me, said Marco.  
  
All right Jessica, said Jake. Just be careful, okay, he said just to me this time.  
  
Don't worry Jake, I'll be fine, I replied, just to him.  
  
Good luck, Ax whispered to me.  
  
Thanks, Ax, I whispered back to him.  
  
Jake came in after me, followed by Ax, Cassie, Tobias, Rachel, and Marco.  
  
Now what do we do? I asked Jake.  
  
What do you mean? I thought you planned this out? Jake asked me.  
  
Uh oh, I said, the same time as Marco, though we were saying it for different reasons. I was saying it because we now knew that we didn't have a plan. Marco said it because he noticed that my sister was waking up. Unfortunately, I didn't.  
  
What are we going to do now? I asked in dispare.  
  
Improvise, said Marco.  
  
What do you mean? I asked.  
  
Improvise, make something up, right away, because "Houston we have a problem!"  
  
Cossette had woken up and was now staring at the group of her cats, her outdoor cats, sitting around on her floor in what looked like a circle, acting like they were talking to one another. She was probably wondering how all seven of her cats had mysteriously appeared in her room. Seven cats that had never been in her room before and were not smart enough to get into her room either. It didn't help the situation that the door was closed.  
  
"There is no way my seven cats got into my room, cats are not that smart,...at least not normal cats." Sure enough, I was right, she knew. Sometimes I really hate being right. "The Andalite bandits! I must contact Visser Three immediately!" But as she got up to get the phone, I tripped her. And that's when I noticed the four hooves standing there in front of me. Ax had started to demorph when things were looking bad, Jake must've told him to do it privately, not wanting me to over hear. Cossette realized this too because now she was face to face with Ax. At that point, she started to scream.  
  
"Aaaaahhhhh! Andali...," she began to scream, but she was cut-off. All I saw was a blur of blue, something moving too fast even for a cat's eyes, and then my sister, my beloved sister, was lying on the ground, appearing to be dead. Before I knew what I was doing, I had started to demorph at a rapid pace, becoming almost completely human except for a few minor details. I lunged at Ax's throat claws extended, and mouth open. A mouth filled with human sized cat-like teeth.  
  
Jessica, listen. I only..., began Ax. All I saw was a flash of blue, and the next thing I new, my once bright world was pure black. I felt myself hit the floor, and the darkness engulfed me. Demorph, I told myself. Demorph, and I knew that I did, but then all traces of consciousness disappeared.  
  
When I woke up, I was in the forest once again, and man, did my head hurt! I was lying nest to my sister who looked like she was...unconscious? I was human now, that much I knew. Completely human. Then I noticed Ax was awake. I mean, if an Andalite was looking down on you, you'd notice too. His stalk eyes were on my sister, still lying in a deep sleep beside me, but his main eyes were on me.  
  
"Ax, Did I do what I think I did last night?"  
  
What do you think you did?  
  
"Try to kill you?  
  
Yes, but you didn't come that close. Too slow, but not by much, for my tail.  
  
"What do you mean, 'for my tail?' Am I dead or something?" I asked him, confused and scared. And then he smiled. An Andalite smile.  
  
No, I just knocked you unconscious. I wouldn't kill you.  
  
"Sorry Ax. I just,...I guess I just was a little too protective." I mean, I felt really bad for what I had done. He was my crush, not to mention now one of my best and closest friends. "I should've known you wouldn't of killed her."  
  
It is okay, Ax replied, still smiling.  
  
"How much longer will she be unconscious for?"  
  
A couple more hours. I hit her with my tail blade a little harder than I hit you.  
  
"Okay," I replied. "So what happened after I went unconscious?"  
  
Jake and Marco jumped out of the window because cats always land on their feet, correct?  
  
"Yeah, go on."  
  
While Jake and Marco demorphed on the ground, Tobias, Cassie, and Rachel demorphed in Cossette's room. Tobias flew out the window and into a nearby tree to keep watch. Cassie, Rachel, and I tied numerous sheets together and lowered you and Cossette to the ground to Jake and Marco. Afterwards, Cassie and Rachel slid down the sheets and I untied them and put them in the, what was it called, ah yes, closet.  
  
"But now my parents will be worried about her."  
  
Not necessarily.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Cassie decided to acquire Cossette and morph her on and off for the day.  
  
"But what about for the long run?"  
  
Jake decided last night that we would try to contact the Chee as soon as possible and get one of them to portray Cossette, especially when she goes down to the Yeerk pool.  
  
"Okay, that seems like a good idea."  
  
Yes, that's what we thought.  
  
"Oh, and Ax?"  
  
Yes?  
  
"Who carried Cossette and me here? I mean this is really deep in the forest. We're a lot deeper than Tobias's meadow."  
  
That's simple. I carried you, and Jake carried Cossette.  
  
"Thanks Ax," I said, giving him a hug."  
  
You're welcome, Jessica, he said hugging me back.  
  
"Tobias wouldn't happen to be around would he?" I asked once we separated.  
  
No, he won't be here for another couple of hours. Me and you are in charge of watching Cossette for now. I told everyone how long I knew she would be unconscious for, Why?  
  
"Because I want to tell you something."  
  
What?  
  
"Remember when I told you I like Jake?"  
  
Yes.  
  
"Well, I don't like Jake anymore."  
  
You don't?  
  
"No, I like you."  
  
What do you mean?  
  
"Hmm, how can I put this?...I have a crush on you. I don't like you, I like you. In laymen's term, I love you." I think he was shocked after hearing me tell him that because he didn't say anything for the next couple of minutes.  
  
I'm sorry, but I don't feel as strongly for you as you do for me, but I do have some feelings for you.  
  
"Really?"  
  
Yes, I suppose anyone would after staying with someone for so long. I've been out here almost by myself ever since I was rescued by the Animorphs. Almost completely alone except for Tobias. It is next to have someone to talk to, especially of the opposite gender.  
  
"Yeah, it is nice to always have someone to talk to," I said, leaning against Ax. "Thanks for being my friend."  
  
Your welcome, and thank you too.  
  
"Awwwe, so touching," said Cossette.  
  
Ah, so she is awake.  
  
"You disgusting Andalite filth, how dare you touch me and bring me here," said Cossette.  
  
"Well, good morning to you, too. At least we know she's still a Controller."  
  
I tied her hands and feet together so she couldn't escape, said Ax.  
  
"I noticed, thanks," she said, spitting at Ax. I almost slapped her for that, you already know why.  
  
Jake and Tobias have just arrived, said Ax.  
  
"Where are they?" I asked, the same time as my sister.  
  
Oh, you won't see them until it is too late, Yeerk, said Ax, and with hatred and pure disgust he said Yeerk, like it was the most vile thing in the universe. But he was right to because it was.  
  
"Don't play games with me Andalite! Where are they?!?" she said, sending Ax a look of total fury and anger. Ax simply ignored her and so did I, knowing it was the Yeerk talking and not my sister. Hooray! Three more days of this! Fun! Fun! Fun!  
  
Everyone took shifts, first it was Jake, Tobias, Ax and me. Then Ax and I would leave and Rachel and Marco would take our place. We would rotate back and forth, even at night. Cassie was still pretending to be Cossette until we could inform the Chee of the plan that had been devised, so she didn't have a shift like the rest of us. Luckily, the Yeerks weren't expecting Cossette to be at the pool for three more days, and since she wasn't an important Yeerk, they would probably never notice she was gone. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclamier: I don't own Animorphs *sighs* K.A. Applegate does. But that doesn't mean I can't right this! :) He he he. But anyway...Enjoy the fanfic. This is the first fanfic I've ever written and I hope you enjoy it. Ja ne!**  
  
Chapter 12:  
  
"Well, this should be fun," I said, exhausted. You see, I hadn't had any sleep in two days, what with watching Cossette on and off for two hours at a time. Now it was time to watch her once again. Ax and I had started to walk back towards the deep section of the woods to start our next shift, when I thought I heard something. Probably just a couple of bobcats fighting over some territory.  
  
Sarcasm I presume?  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Well, anyway, Cossette is nearing the third day mark and I have an odd feeling that today should be quite interesting. Unfortunately, it's definitely not going to be fun. For any of us, especially for your sister. And that's when I heard it again, and it definitely was not a Bobcat. Those were human cries, and something that sounded like a very large cat. Ax must've noticed it too because he stopped in the middle of what he was saying and stopped walking to.  
  
"Did you hear that?" I asked him.  
  
Yes, and it does not sound very good. At that point, we briefly glanced at one another, and then we started to run. And by run, I mean run.We ran towards the part of the forest he knew Cossette was in. Soon we heard panicked thought speak voices in our heads.  
  
Aaaaahhhhh!  
  
Jake, look out! Behind you!  
  
"Oh man, this cannot be good," I muttered to myself.  
  
Yes, it appears that the Yeerk has gotten desperate. It realizes that it's three days are almost up. This is not going to be fun, said Ax.  
  
"Or pretty, definitely not pretty."  
  
Oh no, Ax said, I guess it was supposed to be only to himself.  
  
"When you say "Oh no" it's never good. What is it?"  
  
I forgot to check her for...  
  
TSEEEEEEEW!  
  
For Dracon beam weapons.  
  
Ahhhh, my wing! Its just,...gone! and that sounded a lot like Rachel.  
  
"Oh, man!" And that's when we entered the little clearing we had been keeping Cossette, and let me tell you, it wasn't a pretty sight, and for not the first time, I wasn't happy for being right.  
  
I watched as a bald eagle fell from the sky, it's right wing gone, just gone. Jake was in tiger morph, burn marks like racing strips down his back and sides. I could smell burn fur and flesh as we walked closer to the scene.  
  
Tobias was racing towards Rachel, but he wasn't going to make it to her in time, and if he did, he would only be able to slow her fall, not stop it. I raced towards the falling eagle. I wasn't going to make it, she was falling too fast, too far away. I dove the last few feet and felt a searing pain on my right side as I smashed into the ground, catching Rachel only six inches before her impact with the earth.  
  
Nice timing, Jess, She said to me, as she began to demorph. One second later and I would've been a nice eagle flavored pancake.  
  
"No problem," I said, as I placed her gently on the ground. She was getting larger and I couldn't hold her up anymore. "Ow," I said as I started to get up. "My right side, it burns!" Then I looked at my side, and what I saw next caused me to scream. There was a burn that went from my thigh to my armpit, but that wasn't why I was screaming. The reason I was screaming was because I could see the muscle in my thigh and the bones in part of my rib cage.  
  
JESSICA, I heard Ax scream in thought speak as I collapsed onto the ground, weak from all the blood I lost. The white pants I was wearing, now blood red. My vision was starting to dim as I watched the battle raging before me.  
  
Jessica you need to morph, someone yelled at me. Something, anything! I tried, but it was hard. I concentrated on the lynx DNA that was a part of me and I felt it start to assert itself. The side of exposed bone and muscle started to grown skin and then fur. The pain! The pain, it was gone! I felt my strength start to renew itself as my hands turned to paws and my legs shortened while my feet grew.  
  
The razor sharp claws of the lynx replaced my nails and its movement sensing eyes replaced my own dull ones. My ears slid to the top of my head as my skull changed shape.  
  
I then felt the lynx's muscles replace my own. Their strength filled my body and I felt like the animal version of liquid steel and with that, the silence, stealth and gracefulness of the cat.  
  
The last to change was my internal organs and the structure of my bones. I heard the squishing noises as my internal organs rearranged themselves. I was almost done, except for..Sprout! Except for the little, stubby tail of the lynx. Now my morph was complete, and I was still alive. Alive! But my joy was overcome by despair as I observed the ongoing battle before me.  
  
I noticed Rachel starting to morph bear, but that wasn't who I was concerned about. "Jake, where's Marco and Tobias?" But he was too busy to answer. Then I spotted Tobias, he was fine. I looked up and watched as he dove through the air, aimed at Cossette. No, not at Cossette, at Cossette's dracon beam gun.  
  
So that left Marco. "Oh no," I whispered when I saw him. Everyone must've been so busy attacking Cossette that they didn't notice what had happened to him. He was sprawled out on the ground in gorilla morph. The ground surrounding him a muddy red-brown, soaked with his blood. As I neared him I found out why. Right below his heart there was a hole. A hole the size of a half dollar. A hole that went all the way through him, so that you could see the grass he was laying on. I walked closer, he was still breathing.  
  
Marco! I yelled. "Marco, demorph!" No answer. Marco! MARCO! MARCO, DEMORPH NOW! Please! Come on!  
  
Huh, w-what?  
  
Marco, you need to demorph! The gorilla is dying!  
  
Huh?  
  
Demorph now you idiot! I can see through the hole in your chest!  
  
Hey, I'm not deaf. Then, when what I said finally got through to him, What?! he said, alarmed and shocked. Luckily, he began to demorph. Slowly, then faster, the gorilla started to melt away and the human Marco appeared. "Okay, that was close," he said in relief. "I guess you sister doesn't like me," he said looking at me, with a smirk on his face. "Not everyone can appreciate my charm and good looks."  
  
Yeah, right Marco, I said, rolling my eyes. Most girls just give you the death look, my sister takes it a step further. But, anyway, come on, now that my sister has shot you, there's not really any other purpose for her to have that gun. Let's go! I said.  
  
"Maybe I should morph something first."  
  
Oh right, well join in as soon as you can. Take your time why don't you. I'd loved to actually see you get shot this time,  
  
"Ha, ha, and ha. Very funny..." But then he was out of my hearing range. I crept on my silent, padded feet into the forest and and walked until I was about twenty feet right behind Cossette. Then I stared to run, and let me tell you, even for a small cat, I could do some serious damage if I wanted to, especially if I was unexpected. I started to build speed as I neared my sister. Then, when I was only three feet away, I jumped, hurtling myself at her.  
  
"Oof," she said, as I knocked the wind right out of her. She lost her balance and fell, face first onto the ground. When she started to get up, Rachel knocked Cossette's head lightly with her paw, which is actually enough to knock someone out, which is exactly what it did. She collapsed onto the ground and the Dracon beam fell out of her hand.  
  
Don't worry, I didn't kill her, Rachel said to me.  
  
I know, but she'll probably be out for a while though, huh?  
  
Yeah, Rachel said, as she started to demorph. I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't come after me like you did with Ax the last time Cossette was knocked out.  
  
I had started to demorph too, so by the time I replied to her, I was basically human once again. "Yeah, luckily I know more about grizzlies than I do about Andalites. By now, everyone had demorphed and was human one again. Except for Ax, who was his normal Andalite self, and Tobias, who was a red tail hawk. Marco was still a little shaken up, almost dying can do that to you, but he was getting over it.  
  
"Ax?" Jake asked.  
  
Yes?  
  
"Why didn't you tell us Cossette had a dracon beam?"  
  
I simply forgot to check as I was tying her up, he said, looking at the ground and pawing the dirt with one of his hooves.  
  
"Well," Jake sighed. "It was an honest mistake, but-"  
  
"But it almost got me and Rachel killed!" Marco, of course.  
  
I'm sorry, I was careless. I should've been more alert. Please forgive me Prince Jake.  
  
"Don't call me "prince." But, it's okay because look around, were still all alive. I mean, we can't expect you to do everything," said Jake.  
  
"Not to change the topic of anything but Ax tied her up, right? So how did she get loose and start shooting?" I asked.  
  
Well, hawk eyes aren't very good in the dark..., Tobias began.  
  
"Um, combine that with not sleeping for two days...," began Marco.  
  
"I fell asleep," Rachel said. "There's no use in protecting me guys. I feel asleep and I'm the only one here with an owl morph. Marco was in wolf morph, but he was a few yards away behind some brush and couldn't see her and-"  
  
"And I was in peregrine falcon morph and couldn't tell what she was doing," added Jake. "Tobias was his normal red tail self, so he couldn't see very well either."  
  
"So she basically cut the ropes when no one was looking, but how?" I wondered.  
  
She probably put the dracon beam on a low power setting and cut then cut the ropes that way, suggested Ax.  
  
"That sounds about right," said Jake. "We did hear a really faint almost sizzling sound before she started to fire."  
  
"Well this is great," I began. "We can't just keep knocking her unconscious, that obviously isn't going to work. She'll end up being messed up or something!" You can probably tell that I was really annoyed at that point.  
  
We all looked down at Cossette, wondering what we were supposed to do with her now. The dracon beam was lying on the ground a couple yards away, just out of her reach, and that's when we saw it. What looked like a gray slug slowly began to appear in the ear canal of Cossette's right ear. It slowly slithered out and hit the ground with a small Splat!, like someone dropping a small ball of wet newspaper on the ground.  
  
Then, right before our very eyes, it shriveled up, like when you leave a grape out in the sun. A slug version of a raisin. After it did this, it disintegrated, and the wind blew away the remainder of what was once a highly intelligent Yeerk slug.  
  
"Okay, I just have one word to say to that,...Ew, just...Yuck! Gross! Weird, very weird."  
  
"Jessica, that's a lot more than one word," said Marco, but he wasn't smiling. In fact, none of them were. None of them told him to shut up or to do anything else either, we all just stared at the ground, at the place were a Yeerk had been only a few moments before.  
  
"Well, at least now we know she's not a Controller anymore," said Rachel.  
  
"Yeah," I said. "But that's about all we know. She was a Controller for a lot longer than I was, who knows what it did to her."  
  
"I have an idea of what it could've done and because of it, she might not be the same, at least not for a while, when she wakes up," said Jake.  
  
"How do you know? You were never a Controller." But when I said that, I noticed everyone look away, everyone except Jake, who was looking straight at me, straight into my eyes. "You? You...You were a Controller but,...but how?"  
  
"You don't need to know how, it's a long story. But you and I have been down the same road, and I'm sure that you know as well as I do, that after going through something like that, no one will ever be the same again."  
  
"Yeah, I guess I do know, but I don't want her to be different. I want her to be the way she always was. To laugh and make jokes about all the different TV show we used to watch, like DBZ."  
  
"Chances are, she'll still be that way, but something will have changed. You know it doesn't always show on the outside, some people hide it, like you and me," he was whispering now. "Besides, she has you to help her now, to help her get through this. Give her time, she'll be back to herself soon enough. But for now, she has a lot of new things to learn and is now on the opposite side of the war she was fighting in. Help her, trust me, she'll be okay."  
  
I was going to say more, but I was Cossette's eyes start to flutter and then open. Jake looked down at her, gave me a smile, and then backed away, giving me and my sister a few feet. Everyone else backed up too, as Cossette's eyes opened completely as she sat, and then stood up, a troubled smile on her face. My sister was back, and now I would make sure that the way she was now, would be the way she would stay forever,...free. 


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs..But that's not going to stop me! No one is! Aha ha ha ha ha!!!!  
  
A/N: Yes, I decided to write this fanfic again. Um, enjoy!  
  
Chapter 13:  
  
"Uhh...Why does my head hurt so much...Hey! I can talk! Does that mean...," Cossette started to say.  
  
"Yes," I interjected. "It means you're free. Free from the evil alien slug in your brain. It's gone...gone for good."  
  
"I'm free. Free," Cossette said, almost whispering it. Tears started to well up in her eyes and then started to run down her cheeks. She looked at me, and noticed the tears in my eyes too. We stared at each other for a few minutes and then embraced. I hadn't hugged my sister, my real sister, not the Yeerk slug, in so long. We separated and she then stood in front of me."But what will happen when Visser Three finds me?" she asked, a look that surpassed terror on her face.  
  
I grabbed her arm, tears still in my eyes, and said, "That will never happen, but I have to explain that later. Cossette, met your new friends, you know, the ones you almost killed."  
  
"Yeah, I...um...I'm sorry about that."  
  
"It's okay," Jake said. "It wasn't you, it was the Yeerk."  
  
"Yeah, don't sweat it,"said Marco.  
  
"But who are all these people, and what is...Aaaahhhhh! It's Visser Three!" she said as she dived for her portable Dracon beam. "Die you evil monster!" She said, pointing the dracon beam at who she thought was Visser Three, but in actuality, was Ax.  
  
"Noooo," I screamed as I dived in front of her, trying to rip the dracon beam out of her hand. Too late, she had already started to press on the trigger and I was caught in the full blast as I dived directly in front of her. Luckily, the dracon beam must've been pushed to the second lowest setting, because instead of killing me, it knocked me unconscious, but not before I heard my friends start screaming.  
  
JESSICA! I heard Ax yell, as my body hit the ground in a sickening crunch.  
  
"Oops," I heard Cossette say.  
  
"Noooo!" I heard Rachel and Cassie scream, almost simutaneouly before I lost all traces of consciousness.  
  
When I woke up a few minutes later, Jake, Cassie, Tobias, Marco, and Cossette were standing over me, staring at me.  
  
"Um...oops?" Cossette said. "Sorry."  
  
"Uh...," was all I could manage to get out. Every bone in my body felt like it had been broken, snapped in two. Excruciating pain reverberated throughout my entire body whenever I tried to move. "What happened to Ax, is he okay?" I said, painfully.  
  
"He's fine," Cassie said.  
  
"Yeah, he's all right," Cossette said, a puzzled look on her face. "But what I'm wondering is why you jumped in front of me when I was trying to shot at him, I mean, I know you. And the only reason you would do that would be to protect a family member, a really good friend, or someone you...Oh my God, Jessica you don't!"  
  
"What?" Rachel asked.  
  
"You can't! There's no way! You're not even the same species!" I already knew what was coming, she had figured it out, she knew. My face was already starting to turn bright red. "He's an alien! You can't have a crush on him!"  
  
"WHAT?!" I heard Jake, Tobias, and Marco, practically scream. But Cassie and Rachel said nothing they had their heads in their hands and were shaking them back and forth.  
  
"Oh man, I knew this was going to happen! We shouldn't have left her here with Ax for so long!"  
  
"Yeah, that's what happens when you leave two people together for too long."  
  
"Besides, I thought you liked Jake anyway," Cossette said.  
  
"Omae o korosu," I mumbled, but I knew she heard me.  
  
"What?!" I hear Jake scream. "I couldn't have possibly have heard right. There's no way." At that, I just blushed an even darker shade of red.  
  
"Jessica, why didn't you tell me?" Cassie asked, kindly.  
  
"Because I could tell you two really liked one another, and I didn't want to ruin your relationship, or our friendship Cassie. I'm sorry."  
  
And as for Jake, well, his eyes were glazed over and he was staring out into space, wide eyed, with his jaw dropped. I guess he really didn't expect that.  
  
I looked around, trying not to be obvious, trying to figure out where Ax was hiding. Then I spotted him, or at least his two stalk eyes that were peaking over the top of the high grass in the meadow we were next to.  
  
Are you okay Jessica, Ax asked, once he realized that I had spotted him. I nodded in response. Can I come out? Is is safe? I shook my head no. Can I come out in human morph? I thought about that for a minute, then I nodded my head in response. A few minutes later, a human Ax appeared out of the tall grasses of the meadow. He came over to me, because I was still collapsed on the ground, and helped me to my feet. Once up, my legs buckled beneath me, I guess I had broken a few bones, or at least twisted my ankle. I sat on the ground starring up at Cossette and Ax. They had begun to talk, but I didn't hear a word they said, the world was growing dim around me and the pain resurfaced. Sounds dimmed and my world turned to black as I drifted towards unconsciousness once again.  
  
A/N: Well what's ya think? Please R&R! Thanx! Ja! 


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: All bow down to the all high and mighty K. A. Applegate, for she owns Animorphs, not I. *sniffle* Darn it! Oh well, enjoy!  
  
A/N: From this point on, the fanfic is going to be from Cossette's point of view because it was originally supposed to be two parts. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 14:  
  
Cossette  
  
I stared down at the limp form of my sister, collapsed at my feet. She had gone through all of this to save me, was totally exausted by the time I was freed, and then, what had I done? I shot her. Well, not on purpose, but I still had shot her.  
  
"Hey, Ax. Listen, I'm really sorry. I didn't know...It's just that...Well, for the past few.."  
  
"It's okay. It wasn't the first time someone thought I was Visser 3. But I'm not the one you should say sorry to you, I think you own your sister that." He looked down with his main eyes at her and kept the ones on top of his head on me.  
  
I nodded my head and looked down at my sister again. Her eyes started to flutter, then she groaned in pain and tried sitting up. It didn't work, she fell back down onto her side.  
  
"Oww...," she said , gripping her head with one of her hands. "How many times have I told you sis, don't play with Dracon Beams." She looked up at me, one of her eyes squeezed shut from the pain, but a genuine smile on her lips.  
  
I choked out a laugh. "Sorry, sis. She looked up at the Dracon Beam that was still in my hands. I looked down at it, blasted a shall hole in the ground with it, and then threw it into the hole, covering it up with my foot. I spat at the ground that how concealed it. "Good riddence. Now," I bent forward and offered Jessica my hand."Need some help?"  
  
She looked at my hand, and then into me eyes with a smile that touched my heart. I think we were both overjoyed to finally be together again. I couldn't help but return the gesture of affection as a grin crept onto my face. She grabbed my hand and I pulled her to her feet.  
  
She dusted off the back of her pants, and when she was done, looked up at me, and then lunged at me, wrapping her arms around my neck. We weren't the type that normally showed our love for each other, but, well, heck, we hadn't been together in so long. I hugged her back. We were finallytogether again.  
  
After a few brief moments, we simutantiously broke the embrace and took a step back and looked at each other. I saw that her hair was down and realized that mine was still in that annoying bun the Yeerk had forced it into. It had threatened to cut my hair, but when I started screaming at it, inside my head, nonstop, for three days straight, and promised I would keep going forever if it cut one piece of my hair, it decided that the length it was at was just fine, other than the fact it found it terribly annoying, hence the bun. Now I could finally take the annoying thing out.  
  
I almost ripped my hair out from the way I fiercely tore the scrunchy out, sending all of the bobby-pins flying. I felt my hair fall down and cascade down my shoulders, then my back, and finally reach my waist. I ran my fingers through my hair for a few moments, relishing the feeling of having it down, instead of pulled back so tight I thought my scalp was being peeled off.  
  
When I looked up from my light brown hair, I realized that everyone was staring at my sister and me, their glance shifting from her, to me, and then back to her again.  
  
Marco was the first to say it. "You-you're twins?!"  
  
:He isn't very bright, don't worry about him.: I heard Jessica tell me. Somethine else they hadn't figured out. Now that the Yeerk was gone, and I had full control of my mind, my and her could talk through mind-speech. It was pretty cool. And just think, the whole "identical twins" thing scared them. Imagine if they knew we could do this. He he he. And now the fun begins.  
  
:I can tell. I think I'll torture him.:  
  
Jessica shot me an evil grin. I swear, her eyes twinkled. :Go for it.: She said (well, kind-of), her "voice" dripping with venom.  
  
"You're not the brightest crayon in the box, are you Marco?" I tried hiding my smile, but couldn't help it. I grinned so wide, I thought my face was stuck. Jessica wore the exact same face.  
  
Marco looked taken back for a moment, then looked offended, then concerned. "Oh no! Not another Rachel! Two was bad enough, what with Jessica too. Now you too. That's just not fair!" I don't know how, but our grins got bigger, and Rachel joined us.  
  
:You know, I really can't stand him...:  
  
:I can tell,: I replied.  
  
:Oh, and PLEASE don't bring up the Ax thing again! I doubt Marco will let me live it down now as it is.:  
  
:K, I won't, but would you mind filing me in on who these people are, and what we're going to do now, because our situation at home is...Well...:  
  
:Don't worry. I'll send you all the info via twin-mail. Hold on.: And with that a bunch of pictures flooded my brain, mixing her memories of the past few days with mine. These pictures that held my past, and held all of what my future would be. They stopped, and Jessica gave me a few minutes to sort them out. :Did you get all of it?:  
  
:Yeah, just about. So that's what's life is gonna be like from now on, huh?:  
  
:Just about.:  
  
:Now this is going to be interesting.:  
  
:You have no idea just how much, Cossette. No idea.:  
  
A/N: Well? What's ya think? I haven't worked on this fanfic in about a year and a half, so I really hope my writing style didn't change...Oh well, please R&R! Thanx bunches!! 


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